Marilyn Chow, RN, DNSc, FAAN
Vice President, Patient Care Services
Diane Chamberlain, RN,C, MS
Director of Nursing and Patient Care Service
Georgia Region
Our new electronic health record system offers many opportunities to help us provide better care to our patients. KP HealthConnect is a powerful tool that gives us instant access to medical records and nursing protocols, allows us to capture and share best practices, and helps us optimize patient safety.
As we partner with technology to provide quality care across the continuum, it’s now more important than ever that we continue to build personal relationships with our members, patients, and their families. A recent survey conducted by the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) asked nurses how they interpret the value of nursing. One nurse responded, “I am the front and back door of the hospital.”
When we think of ourselves at the front door of Kaiser Permanente, our role as nurses is to welcome our patients and visitors to the house of health. We explore their needs and desires when they first come in, and we offer them health promotion, disease prevention, and health care services. We prepare them for their visit through education and teaching. We coordinate their visits to make sure we get the right person through the right door at the right time. And we help them transition through all the interior doors of our house, ensuring their safety and freedom from harm as we introduce them and entrust them to our colleagues.
At the back door of Kaiser Permanente, our role as nurses is to make sure that our patients are prepared to manage their health independently as they leave our house. We make sure they have the support and resources they need. We make sure they understand what occurred during their visit, and that they know they are welcome to return anytime. The back door represents freedom, self-determination, and independence. We send them out with a smile and touch, to go out and live well, to be well, and to thrive.
At Kaiser Permanente, we pride ourselves on knowing our members, recognizing them at the door, and providing for nearly all their health care needs under our own roof. At the entry, at the exit, and at every transition in between, nurses are the keys that open all those doors.
To find out more about our nurses, check out our Celebrating Nurses section, or the latest issue of the KP Nursing Network, our quarterly online newsletter for Kaiser Permanente nurses.